Roller bearing retainer



Jan. 16, 1934. J P. JOHNSQN 1,943,894

ROLLER BEARING RETAINER Filed May 16, 1929 a INVENTOR BY Ja mes R Johnson,

ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 16, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in retainers or retaining rings for roller bearings.

It is one of the objects of my invention to provide a retainer ring which shall have increased strength over the present type of retainer ring, which will insure accuracy in the assemblage of the parts, which will facilitate the assembly of the rollers in the ring and which may be readily and cheaply manufactured.

For the purpose of disclosing my invention, I have illustrated in the accompanying drawing one embodiment thereof in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partially in. section of a retainer ring and associated rollers;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation partially in section of the structure illustrated in Fig. 1 and;

Fig. 3 is a partial sectional view showing a manner of forming the roller recesses in the ring.

In the embodiment illustrated, I provide a ring or cage 1 which is formed from a single piece of material and the thickness or depth of which is slightly less than the diameter of the rollers to be supported;the width of this piece being greater than the length of the rollers. The ring is provided with a plurality of assemblyrecesses 2 which consist of slots extending through the ring. These slots are preferably formed by cutting straight through the material forming the ring so that the side walls 3 of the slots are parallel as are the end walls 4. The distance between the side walls 3 of each slot is slightly less than the diameter of the roller to be supported in' the recess or slot. To accommodate the roller within the slot, and allow for clearance, after the roller 3 has been assembled therein, the side walls are cut out to provide arcuate channels 5 therein so that a slight clearance will be provided between the walls and the roller. These channels or arcuate grooves may be formed in any suitable manner, although I have shown in Fig. 3 one method of accomplishing this result. As shown in this figure after the slots have been cut straight,

through, a reaming tool having cutting edges 6 and 7 is inserted, and by rotating the tool the sidewalls are scraped or cut sufliciently to provide the rounded recesses for the roller. The spacing of the end walls of slots 2 also provides a slight clearance between the ends of the roller and the end walls of the recess.

I have found from actual experience, where a half inch roller is used, that the distance between the straight portion or the edges of the recess should be about .495" and where the roller is a 'half inch in length, that is the diameter and length are the'same, the distance between the end walls is .502", while the distance between the curved portions of the side walls at their greatest width is .515". v

In assembling the rollers in the retaining ring each roller is placed above a recess and by a slight tap of the-hammer is forced into the recess, the metal springing or giving sufliciently to allow the roller to drop into position. As soon as the roller has dropped into position in its retaining recess the metal at the ends of the walls springs back 55 irlito position, effectually retaining the rollers in p ace.

In the drawing I have shown the rollers or retaining rings as being interposed between two relatively rotating parts as 8 and 9.

I claim: I

1. A roller bearing comprising an integral retainer ring having formed therein a plurality of peipherally spaced slots, the peripherally spaced walls of said slots being disposed in substantially radial planes and being grooved, adjacent their mid-portions only, on axes extending parallel with the axisof said ring, and a roller for each of said slots, the diameters of said rollers being slightly greater than the distance between the radially outward portions of said walls of said slots, and slightly less than the peripheral dimensions of the grooved portions of said slot walls.

2. A roller bearing comprising an integral retainer ring formed of resilient metal and having formed therein a plurality of peripherally spaced slots, the peripherally spaced walls of said slots being disposed in substantially radial planes and being grooved, adjacent their mid-portions only, on axes extending parallel with the axis of said ring, and a roller for each of said slots, the di ameters of said rollers being slightly greater than the distance between the radially outward portions of said walls of said slots, and slightly less than the peripheral dimensions of the grooved portions of said slot walls, said rollers being adapted to be forced radially inwardly into the space defined between the grooved portions of said slot walls.

3. A roller bearing comprising an integral retainer ring of uniform cross-section throughout its peripheral extent and fo'rmedof metal having a resiliency equivalent to that of bronze, said ring having formed therein a plurality of peripherally spaced slots, the peripherally spaced walls of said slots being disposed in substantially radial planes and being formed with axially extending facing grooves, .and a roller for each of said slots, the diameters of said rollers being slightll.

13! greater than the distance between the end portions 01. said walls of said slots, and slightly less than the distance between the bases of said slots, said rollers being adapted to be forced 5 radially into the space defined between the grooved portions of said slot walls.

4. A roller bearing cage comprising an integral 

